What’s with all the Vimy Ridge propaganda in Canada this week? Did you know Canada now has a Vimy Ridge Day? That was news to me until I read about it in Wikipedia after a week-long news barrage about the Battle of Vimy Ridge

When did they slip that over Canadian’s eyes?

It seems the Canadian government in 2003 officially proclaimed April 9 as Vimy Ridge Day to commemorate the sacrifice of Canadian soldiers at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in the First World War.

Back then it was called the “Great War” aka “the war to end all wars”. Boy, were they wrong about that! The absolute horror, industrialized slaughter and complete waste of human life in WW I was soon forgotten and the Twentieth Century turned into the bloodiest century in human history. But, that’s another story.

Official Background: the Battle of Vimy Ridge

During WW I, for the first time all four Canadian divisions were assembled as a corps to attack the Germans holding the impregnable fortress of Vimy Ridge in France. Previous attacks by both the British and the French had failed with great loss of life. The Canadian attack, using a very effective artillery barrage rolling ahead of the advancing Canadian troops succeeded in capturing the Ridge.

Propaganda Background

Vimy was strategically an unimportant hill; it made little difference to the outcome of the war and explains why the Germans made no attempt to re-take it. In fact, few other country’s history make mention of the battle.

However, as Jane Urquhart says, in Globe and Mail’s Our lost and found memories of Vimy Ridge“Having lost 66,000 young people from a population of less than 8 million, Canada needed a tangible symbol of nationalist valour and The Battle of Vimy Ridge fit the bill. It was enthusiastically taken up by both the collective unconscious and the governmental spin doctors of the day.”

Completely forgotten is the complete incompetence of the Allied Generals and particularly the imbecilic ineptitude of British Field Marshal Douglas Haig who considered the useless slaughter of millions of young soldiers a badge of honor to his oversized ego. He considered the colonial Canadians troops as mere cannon fodder and sneered at their painstaking planning and scouting in preparation for the battle.

It has been said that the importance of Vimy Ridge was solidifying Canada’s sense of self. Canadians (with the exception of Quebec) entered the First World War as British subjects doing their duty to the King and ended the war as citizens of their own nation with a sense of their own identity distinct from Britain. Vimy Ridge became as symbolic to Canada as “The Alamo” did to America. At least, that’s what we’re told.

Questioning the Propaganda

When did Vimy Ridge DAY become Vimy Ridge WEEK? It’s been in the news all week. I don’t recall so much Vimy Ridge for so long.

It’s not as though it’s a significant anniversary. It’s been 95 years. That’s neither an even number nor a factor of ten. 50 would be significant. 100 would be special. But, 95 is essentially meaningless. So why a week long media barrage?

There’s something fishy going on here, boys and girls. I think we are being prepared for another war and not just any war. More on this later but it’s spelled IRAN.

Today’s Propaganda

It has been said that what really happened isn’t as importance as what people say about it afterwards. Therein lies a real tragedy if we allow the spin doctors to have their way. It’s been said that the Battle of Vimy Ridge made Canada into a nation. That’s wartime propaganda that became part of Canada’s history.

In fact, those who sacrificed their health and their lives did so for morally bankrupt institutions led by psychotic elites for their own benefit and amusement. How many Generals ever lost their lives in modern warfare? Had we admitted the culpability and failure of the heartless, self-styled elites on both sides of the Great War, we might have been spared the horrors of the rest of the blood-drenched Twentieth Century. Had we admitted the truth and actually learned from our mistakes instead of wallowing in propaganda, it might have mitigated or at least alleviated some of the useless sacrifices that followed the senseless slaughter of the First World War.

Myths are for fools and idiots. Myths are for ignorant and uneducated peasants. Myths hide ugly truths and prevent us from learning from our mistakes. Remember this blog’s by-line, “The truth will set you free but first it will make you miserable.”

You found out there’s no Santa Claus and still you believe everything you’re told.
You found out there’s no Easter Bunny and still you believe everything you’re told.
You found out there’s no Tooth Fairy and still…

How many lies do you need to uncover before you finally realize EVERYTHING the elites tell you is a lie?

How many lies do you need to uncover before you realize EVERYTHING they tell you is to serve THEIR interests, not yours; for their benefit, not yours; to risk your life, not theirs; to keep you ignorant and pliable so you can do their bidding; to steal your hard-earned money to line their bottomless pockets, to buy the politicians who enact laws for their benefit, not yours; to raise your daughters as brood mares and sons as cannon fodder to fight their endless wars? How many lies do you need to uncover before you see it’s ALL LIES? How many?

Nobody likes to have their dreams shattered, their balloons punctured or their illusions dispelled. That’s the miserable part. But, that’s part of growing up. Maturity is learning to stand on your own and think independently; to be able to see through the lies and myths and propaganda that will enslave you. Once you get over the misery, you become empowered; you get better and better at recognizing the bullshit and sidestepping it. The more you practice bullshit-recognition, the easier it becomes and the less painful it is.

Several caveats:
1) Your friends, family, co-workers and support group will drag you into their myths and illusions. It’s not their fault. They cling to their beliefs because it’s the path of least resistance. You need to understand that and be prepared. You don’t need to get sucked into their beliefs but you also can’t rock their fragile boat. You’ll need to find a balance between thinking independently and still being part of the group.

2) Don’t argue with them. As soon as you sense their resistance to your independent ideas, back off or risk losing the people close to you.

3) Alternatively, you might be better off losing some of them. That’s something you’ll have to decide for yourself. Keep in mind the Pareto Principle; the 80/20 rule. See this interesting EXPLANATION

80% of people aren’t worth your effort. That leaves the other 20%. There are 7 billion people on planet Earth, 20% of whom might be worth your time and effort. That 20% represents more than a billion people; way more than you’ll ever meet in a lifetime. The decision is yours.

Wars are Fought for Resources

We do NOT go to war for freedom or liberty or apple pie or motherhood. We go to war for one thing and one thing only: resources.
a) Either to acquire someone else’ resources or gateways to them, or
b) Prevent someone from stealing our resources, or
c) Prevent someone stealing someone else’s resources and thereby upsetting the apple-cart (balance of power)

In both World Wars, Germany tried to acquire the resources of others. The Second World War dramatically highlighted this. Germany over-ran Europe but that was merely to guard Germany’s back door. The real prize was Russia and its vast untapped and under-exploited resources.

Russia is the largest landmass in the world. It covers 9 time zones. Canada, at 4 ½ time zones covers only half as much as Russia. The U.S covers 4 time zones yet the U.S. is the world’s largest, most powerful economy. Why? Because it has the world’s largest, most powerful military which enables the U.S. military-industrial complex to plunder and pillage the rest of the world’s resources.

Why is Russia so under-developed? Because the average Russian is a lazy, incompetent, drunken peasant typically ruled by greedy, drunken Bolsheviks – with the exception of Vladimir Putin who’s not a drunk.

Now consider Germans. They are typically well-educated, industrious, efficient and hard working. Imagine if Germany had conquered Russia in either of the two World Wars. Germany would have efficiently and competently developed Russia’s vast untapped resources and thus transform itself into a mighty economic powerhouse. In the First World War, Germany was a threat to Britain’s economic hegemony (imperial dominance through Great Power politics) and in the Second World War; Germany was a threat to America’s economic hegemony. Thus, in both wars, Germany threatened to overthrow Anglo-American dominance.

Of course, propaganda was used on both sides. In Germany, they fought for “lebensraum” which is ‘habitat’ (literally: living space). This is simply a euphemism for resources.

Americans fought for freedom, liberty, motherhood, apple pie, etc. That’s a euphemism for American military-industrial hegemony. Most American farm boys didn’t know what hegemony was, let alone how to spell it and if they did they were unlikely to risk their lives for it; hence the propaganda of freedom, liberty, etc. The Great Depression was still in full swing (it didn’t end until after the war) and high levels of unemployment created millions of desperate young men looking for work which the military willingly provided.

America’s running dog lackeys, oops, I mean allies fought alongside the American empire or risked falling out America’s favor and becoming the next target for pillage and plunder. American is a master at engineering regime change to ostensibly encourage more American intervention (freedom, liberty, motherhood, etc.) to once again ensure a more compliant ‘democracy’. Recent examples include Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

With the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, American is the undisputed master of the universe and can do anything it wants with an appropriate application of propaganda. America wants two things; access to resources and the protection of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency which allows America to control the resources and resource providers.

Democratic Propaganda

It has been said that democracies do not invade other democracies. There is a grain of truth to that but much is left unsaid.

Propaganda, to be effective, must have a grain of truth to be believable. Few Russians believed outlandish Soviet propaganda. In Russia everyone pretended to believe in spite of their crude propaganda lacking all credibility. Pretending to believe served a purpose: humiliation keeps people subservient and compliant.

However, effective propaganda hides the real truth. Truth is not always conspicuous by its absence. And the truth is that democracies don’t invade each other because it’s NOT necessary. All so-called democracies are lackeys, oops, allies subservient to the U.S. military-industrial complex which is why Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper kisses Obama’s ass. It’s simply the price Canadians pay to ensure the appearance of independence.

Meanwhile, iconic Canadian companies such as Inco are acquired by Brazil’s Vale, Falconbridge was acquired by Swiss Extrata, Nortel implodes trying to play in the big leagues and next up-to-bat is Research in Motion (RIM) makers of the ubiquitous Blackberry a likely take-over target by American-owned Apple or some other lackey, oops, ally.

Uncle Sam hates Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Syria because they refuse to allow themselves to be pillaged and plundered. The U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency is slowly losing acceptance so American is desperately trying to defend the dollar even if it means invading and decimating poverty-stricken countries and slaughtering millions of poor people.

This Petro-dollar is how Uncle Sam controls the supply of petroleum to feed its insatiable demand for oil. The U.S. invaded Iraq, in part, because Saddam Hussein threatened to sell Iraq’s oil for gold instead of U.S. dollars. The U.S. invaded Libya, in part, because Khadafy tried to create a gold-based currency to replace the U.S. dollar for inter-Africa trade.

The U.S. bombed Serbian targets in one of the heaviest bombardments since the Second World War ostensibly to end inter-ethnic fighting and atrocities. As if the American government gave a damn about Muslim atrocities! The U.S. military-industrial complex needed to take control of the tiny failed state of Kosovo because it is strategically located according to F. William Engdahl writing for Global Research.

He says, “Kosovo is a tiny parcel of land in one of the most strategic locations in all Europe from a geopolitical standpoint of the US military objective of controlling oil flows and political developments from the oil-rich Middle East to Russia and Western Europe.” He goes on to say, “It also protects the multi-billion dollar heroin trade, which, significantly, has grown to record dimensions in Afghanistan according to UN narcotics officials, since the US occupation.” It’s no secret that heroin funds the CIA in its dark, off-balance sheet operations.

Democracies avoid invading each other not because they are righteous. It’s simply not necessary for democracies to invade each other because, for all intents and purposes, they are already owned or controlled by the U.S. military-industrial complex. Consequently, there’s no need for costly military invasions of democracies. Why ruin your own property? It’s far more effective to ruin someone else’s and then steal what’s left of it. It worked in Iraq, it worked in Libya and it worked in Kosovo.

The next target for the American military-industrial complex is Iran, the world’s third largest oil producer. The ostensible reason for attacking Iran is their so-called development of nuclear weapons even though there is no evidence to prove it nor does Iran have long range missiles that could target the U.S. Such a charge has as much credibility as Saddam Hussein’s “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq which also proved to be non-existent.

Iranians aren’t stupid. Should they target USrael with nuclear weapons, Iran would instantly be turned into barren, radioactive glass.

If you think Iran is not a tempting U.S. target, consider this. In “The War at the End of the Dollar” Ron Hera writes, “With Israel as a close ally, Iraq and Afghanistan occupied by U.S. forces, close ties with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries, Iran is surrounded by more than 40 U.S. military installations.”

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However, Iran is NOT going to be a push-over for an Israeli or U.S attack. Iranians may be Muslim but they are not dumb Arabs inept at waging war or incapable of governing themselves. For more detail on Arab ineptitude see Everything I Know about Islam

Iranians are very capable Persians with thousands of years of battle experience, formidable ground-fighting terrain and brinkmanship that runs circles around American cowboys. During the ten year Iraq-Iran War, Iraq failed to overcome Iran despite American intelligence, U.S. satellite surveillance and the support of massive and sustained American military supplies. Both Russia and China have major petroleum contracts with Iran. They will not sit idly by and watch Uncle Sam cut them off or complete America’s encirclement of their backyard.

Attacking Iran is opening a Pandora ’s Box of unimaginable horrors. For thirty years, America has made know it’s fury at the Iranian revolution that toppled Uncle Sam’s puppet, the Shaw Pahlavi ending Anglo-America’s plunder of Iran’s resources. For thirty years, Iran has strategically planted infiltrators and saboteurs world-wide who will cause untold damage to the West’s military, economy and oil supplies if and when Iran is attacked.

In past articles I mentioned that the most dangerous animal is a wounded animal. The U.S. economy is collapsing in spite of election year ‘recovery’ propaganda. U.S. debt has exceeded the point of no return. America’s social order is disintegrating. The U.S. dollar is slowly losing the globe’s confidence as a reserve currency.

America is more than wounded. America is now INSANE. Remember the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” Consider Afghanistan, known as the ‘Graveyard of Empires’ having survived and eventually expelling more than a dozen invaders; among them were Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, the Greeks, India, Tamerlane, Babur’s Mughal dynasty, Persia, England and Russia. Insanity is refusing to learn from history. Insanity is the delusion that America could do what a dozen great empires before them could not.

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And now, wounded and insane, after ten years of getting their asses handed to them in Afghanistan, Uncle Sam thinks he can overthrow Iran. That’s insanity! The repercussions will be horrendous.

And this brings us full circle to Vimy Ridge Day. Yes, we need to commemorate the Canadian soldier’s sacrifices at Vimy Ridge. We need to commemorate ALL the fallen in all the wars. But, more than that, we need to admit our mistakes and then learn from them to avoid making them again and again. We need to wake up and realize that, in war, there are NO winners except the elites who profit from our sacrifices.

We need to wake up and realize the only real enemy is the STATE; governments that abuse propaganda, nationalism and patriotism to manipulate us into serving the psychopathic elites for whom enough is never enough. It is the state who coerces us into enriching it by taxing our labor. It is the state which grows ever larger at the expense of our liberty and freedoms. It is the state which allows the corruption of its elites and enables the greedy financial oligarchs to buy the politicians who enact repressive legislation and ever-increasing taxation that further engorges the barbaric monster of government.

Simply commemorating the fallen is simply not enough.

Gerold
April 15, 2012

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About gerold

I have a bit of financial experience having invested in stocks in the 1960s & 70s, commodities in the 80s & commercial real estate in the 90s (I sold in 2005.)
I am appalled at our rapidly deteriorating global condition so I've written articles for family, friends & colleagues since 2007; warning them and doing my best to explain what's happening, what we can expect in the future and what you can do to prepare and mitigate the worst of the economic, social, political and nuclear fallout.
As a public service in 2010 I decided to create a blog accessible to a larger number of people because I believe that knowledge not shared is wasted.

7 Responses to They’re Preparing Us for Another War

Who do you think you are fooling. Have ypu ever been to Russia, they are not lazy drunks. They are actually hard working most want a better life. in wwii they were not fed propaganda they were forced to fight or shot. ANd america did not enter the war until after the bombing in pearl harbor which was a unprovoked attack. GO back to making maple syrup that is about all canada is good for you idiot.

My point is that the real enemy is the STATE and I used historical examples to back it up.
I’m not sure what your point is but I appreciate your insight. However, you needn’t be disrespectful to maple syrup.